Does RTD actually listen to its riders?

I went to the RTD meeting on Friday about the agency's proposed and severe cuts to service. There were only 14 people in attendance. Since the meeting was on a Friday night, that seems pretty good. Friday night has to be the worst night to hold any kind of meeting, so of course RTD held five meetings then.

Those in attendance made their cases to save various routes. I was glad to see that many of the people were there to protest the cuts of the 1 bus. Many of them made very good points, noting that the geography of west Denver makes it harder for people to travel farther for transportation and that this burden is particularly hard on the transit-dependent riders such as the elderly and the disabled.

I made my case, explaining that RTD's service is already lackluster compared to other cities, that its unfair to increase fares and reduces service, and that riders should not have to suffer for RTD mismanagement and inability to anticipate problems. The RTD bureaucrat who conducted meeting dismissed by comments in typical bureaucrat fashion by not really answering my claims and instead insisting that there was nothing RTD could have done to prevent its current situation (fire the "several economic advisors [that] told us fuel prices were going to go back up again," for one).

We'll see what happens next. I think those of us who fought for the 1 were convincing and it seems like they might moderate the cuts somewhat in the final version. The bureaucrat asked if we would support having 1A service only during peak hours. I told him that I think the bus is used all day, particularly since much of the ridership consists of students, the elderly and low-income workers who often have different schedules then the typical "peak hour" users have. I suppose having the 1A at all is a positive step though.

In the end, I left the meeting feeling as though I wasn't really listened to. Even the bureaucrat admitted that the meeting was basically a legal formality and though there was a note-taker, there was no recording of the meeting, so who really knows if our opinions from the meeting are actually going to be heard by the board.

I know mine well at least, because I plan on attending the next board meeting. I found information about the meeting in the crevasses of the RTD web site. The next board meeting will be on Tuesday, February 17 at 5:30PM in the lower level meeting room at RTD headquarters; 1600 Blake Street. The public is allowed to attend and make three-minute comments directly to the board. You can also send an e-mail to your RTD board representative here. If you didn't attend the public meetings on the service cuts, this will be the last chance to give your opinion. I can't promise they will listen, but at least it will be heard.